My Forever Girl
by missing in imagination
Summary: Nick & Miley go bowling and get caught up in a storm. Based on recent events in Nick and Miley's lives. NILEY  please read author's note!


_**A long-overdue author's note**:_** Hi everybody! Long time, no see! I have a lot to say so before you skip ahead and read, please just take a moment:**

1. I just want to seriously thank you all from the bottom of my heart. Every now and then, I still get a few reviews on my previous stories and they literally light up my world. Specifically, an anonymous reader reviewed "Life of Miley" a few days ago with the most encouraging, beautiful review I have ever gotten- his/her name is JBMCDloV3 and if you're reading this, please let me know!  
I feel so whole and warm-hearted right now and I am so thankful for this website, its people, and the world its created for me. I wrote this for you (that's right, you reading this right now) and I want you to know that you're the coolest person in the world.

2. If any of you have a Tumblr, PM me! I'd love to check yours out and follow you, and for you to do the same. I've been on it for many months now and I literally live on it. Just let me know and send me your link and I'll send you mine.

3. Lastly, how are all you Niley believers doing out there? I know I had a moment of betrayal and I had my little stick with Miam but I'm done, it's over, and I am back in full gear with Niley. They belong together, they're going to get married, have babies, etc. And this one shot is based off of a few weeks ago when all those rumors (truths) were going around on Twitter about how they went bowling. This was a few days before Miley left for Haiti and Nick went to DC and Virginia for events and a show, so I ran with this idea that I've been working on for a couple of weeks now. I've worked real hard on this!

Thanks, I hope you enjoy! (Disclaimer- I do not own these characters or places. Song lyrics by Forever the Sickest Kids, "My Forever Girl")

_All things aside, just know.  
No matter what you do, I'll be there for you.  
When the world starts bringing you down,  
I'll be there to stop and lift you off the ground._

_**February 20, 2011  
Los Angeles, California**_

Its 9:30 and she stands by the front door gazing out the window, waiting for a black and white Mustang to pull through the gates. She bites her lip anxiously and fondles with a strand of her long dyed hair that drapes around her upper body like a shawl. She isn't any more nervous than she is overly excited. They hadn't seen each other in months.

But they have been talking- a few texts every now and then, just checking up on each other's lives, making sure they were still intact. They were always on the go- somebody was in New York, the other was back in LA, somebody was in South America, and the other in Europe. Miley had joked that even though they couldn't see each other in person, they were probably crossing airwaves in the sky, riding on their private planes, watching the miles drift away. And that made her feel a little more comfortable than she did before.

Miley is starting to be effected by her inevitable loneliness. Liam has been out of the picture for a while now and the pain from their breakup has left her almost completely, but she really misses the contact- a holding hand, kiss on the head, a strong tight hold when she needed one. She misses the sweet words that reassured her of the world's goodness and humility; those things that make her feel special. Her parents are confusing her and her friends have trickled away. Her dog is just about the only one she feels she can rely on.

Headlights appear in her driveway and she watches as he slows to a stop and taps lightly on his horn to signal his arrival. She locks the door behind her and excitedly skips to the car. When she gets in it's like a rush of energy entered with her. He notices her eyes first and how much they glitter in the night, then her soft pink lips and the grin attached to them. 'She looks good,' he thinks to himself. Miley thinks the same thought as she smiles at his flawless face and tousled curls, and thinks back to the day she fell in love with a kid who has suddenly grown into a man.

"Hi Nick," she says as she closes the door and reaches towards his open arms, "It's really nice to see you."

"You too," he says in the middle of their embrace and the smell of her perfume captivates him.

They head off into the sleeplessness of LA and get to talking real fast. They talk about everything- new music, upcoming events, their friends, Demi finally coming home, his brothers, and their lives. She is shining a brilliant shade of beautiful, he thinks and loves the way the streetlights dance across her skin.

"Been up to anything new lately?" he asks.

"I haven't been doing much, really. I've recorded a bit and I'm getting ready to go to Haiti for a few days." Something has changed in her and she looks down at her twisting hands. "I'm just trying to keep quiet, I guess."

He wants to ask her about everything he's been hearing- her parent's divorce, the fights with paparazzi, stumbling out of clubs, the smoking, her pain. But when she looks at her, it's hard to believe that any of it could have ever been true. It all may be true, but Nick can tell that she sure isn't proud of it.

_Cause we've got that thing people dream about  
and see on silver screens.  
It's undeniable, you're the one.  
The only one for me._

They arrive at Pickwick Bowling Alley where they plan on spending the next few hours together. Nick loves bowling just like he loves golf- Miley never forgets to tease him about his dedicated participation to dorky sports. But even so, the last time they were here was for his 18th birthday, and despite popular belief, Miley had a lot of fun.

"Step back, boy." Miley confidently walks up to their lane with the dark green bowling ball cradled in her hands. She places it onto her fingers and holds it up by her face, eyeing her target and rolling her eyes at Nick who was shouting out tips and techniques that Miley was just ignoring anyway.

"Now pull back, keep your body balanced- no don't do that, you're leaning over too far- makes sure you follow through-"

He watches Miley release the ball with whipping force and Nick's mouth immediately snaps shut. It rolls with direct precision and slams into the white pins, knocking down all of them.

"Take that!" she turns around and does some strange victory dance that only Miley would have the fearlessness to do in front of him. Nick stands stock-still with his arms crossed, trying to look irritated at the fact that she just showed him up, but he can't help but smirk as the competitive level of this casual bowling game between to sexually-tensioned best friends rose to a very high level.

"It's on."

_You're the apple of my eye.  
My American pie, the light of my life  
They say things change with time.  
But, one thing is for sure it won't be you and I.  
You and I._

"I can't believe you lost," Miley scoffs playfully as they walk towards the doors of Pickwick, "I beat _you_, at _bowling_, I mean really, I didn't even have to cheat or anything."

Nick shoves her playfully with a snort-like laugh and she hits him back and for another moment it's just the two of them with nothing and nobody else. Nick pushes open the door for her to lead the way out and a gust of howling wind blows through, surprising the both of them.

"Since when is it raining!"

She looks outside and the rain is plummeting to the ground in sheets, corralling into puddles in the parking lot and flushing through gutters. Thunder claps in tune with the crashing pins and balls behind them and to be pulled outside seems to be the farthest from anything enchanting.

"Just stay here, I'll pull the car up."

He takes his jacket and hikes it over his head. Miley watches him as he dives into the wind and water, a furious blend beating down upon him. Hunched under his soaking jacket and running through puddles, Miley looks on. She reflects on tonight and this moment and how happy and free she feels. It's as if whenever she's with him, they revert to their younger teenage years and she feels okay, she feels alright, like anything that was worrying her has dissipated with the feel of his embrace, his soft and carefully-chosen words, his warm _real_ smile that she knows deep down is only, and has only been, for her.

Suddenly she's bursting out the door and sprinting after him. She splashes through the streams of water charging towards the sewer drains with the power of the wind forcing her pack, launching her away from him every time she gets a little closer. Nick, now aware of her gallivanting presence running up behind him, turns around and looks at her with a huge smile, laughing at her, inwardly realizing the wholesomeness they both are feeling. She charges towards him but doesn't slow or even stop; she just grabs a hold of his hand and pulls him away, through the pouring rain, into the endless night.

Hand in hand, they reach the car and Nick desperately fondles around for his keys. "Where the heck are my keys…"

Miley, now drenched with rain drops streaming down her forehead, throws her hands in the air with exasperation and projects over the rain, "Well maybe you should've figured that out _before_ we went into the rain!"

He smirks and opens up his fisted hand, "Just kidding." The keys are in his hand, as they have been the whole time, and Miley gives him a death glare through the sheet of water between them. "Lighten up, Miles, it's only a storm!"

They get in the car and close the doors behind them. It's immediate silence as if they're sucked into a vacuum; all but the noise of the pounding rain and their heavy breaths is suspended in a quiet, thoughtful hush.

"Wow," Miley says as she watches the rain hammer against the windshield. Thunder rumbles in the far off distance; a sure sign that even though the rain is still coming down, the end isn't far off. "This is a mess," she states, still staring at the eye of the storm and then looking down at her wet clothes and matted hair. "I'm a mess."

"You're just fine," Nick says quickly because he's always the one to make her feel prettier than she thinks she is. But he sees the way she shakes her head and shifts in her seat to face him and he realizes that this is about to go a lot deeper than outer beauty.

"Nick," she starts hesitantly, " I want you to know that I'm ashamed of what I've done."

He's a bit taken aback and doesn't respond because he never was any good at saying what he wants to at the right time. "Miles," he says uneasily, "you don't have to talk about it.."

"No, its fine." She stares at her hands- formulating, thinking- and then looks up, straight into his eyes. "I'm dealing with things that I never thought I'd have to deal with, but even so, that doesn't justify some of my decisions. I.. I'm not trying to disappoint anybody, I'm really not. But I'm just sick of everything disappointing me."

Nick stutters for words to say, stumbling over explanations and answers, but she stops him, shaking her head, pursing her lips. "It's done," she says feeling vulnerable and foolish, "Don't worry about." He gives her a weary, uncomfortably doubting look but she just smiles back as if nothing in the world is wrong.

_They say things change with time.  
But, one thing is for sure it won't be you and I.  
You and I._

By the time they drive into Miley's driveway, the rain has finally faded into a mist. Their hands are intertwined between them as Nick drives with one hand on the wheel and the other on her heart. It's nearly midnight and the sky is black and blue, but the storm clouds are clearing, revealing a mass of sparkling stars.

In twenty four hours, Miley will be in Haiti and Nick will be in DC. He'll be making music; she'll be spreading love. Against the horizons of separate star skies, they will find peace and wholesomeness; and the void that they have left behind will be warmed by the pulsating of hearts surrounding them. This is their lives- the constant shuffling around the planet, meeting and forgetting a world of people. But what they both understand is the consistency of their friendship, their eternal relationship; that no matter where they are, what they're doing, and who they're with, it's always going to come back to them, their love for each other, their love for humanity, and their love for music.

Nick walks her to the front door and before any of them could think of another way to say their goodbyes, he lets go of her fingers and cups her face in his hands. He never planned this, never expected this to happen tonight, tomorrow, or ever, but with Miley it always seems as though all logic and rationalization leaves him and he's left with just the reckless feeling of a flaming love glowing as deep and thick as the lights around their heads.

"Nick," she pulls away, her fingers lingering on his cheek, "What about.."

He shrugs: "I don't care," and for the first time this is true. He has a great urge to shout out to the world that he is completely in love with Miley; he always was and always will be, fuck the world and what they have to say because this moment, this place they are in right now, is only for them and no one else.

Miley laughs and shakes her head; letting go of the ridiculousness, the doubt, and pulls his lips back to her own. In her head, she's screaming with happiness and although she hadn't expected this to happen, deep down she admits that she had hoped for it. She had always hoped that one day Nick would finally stop caring and just kiss her.

When they pull away, she wraps her arms around his waist and his wind around her shoulders with her face pressed tightly to his chest. He kisses the top of her head and he remembers everything- the storm and that rainy December day when it hit them; all the award shows, the events, the premieres that he never went over to her to say hello; the words in their songs that stung the both of them and battled out what they couldn't say to their faces; singing "Before the Storm" alone at his shows, and always wondering where she is, how she's doing, and if she really is happy with _him_.

He squeezes her gently and presses his lips back to her forehead.

"I am so sorry for ever leaving you."

_**February 23, 2011**_

Nick takes out his phone and looks at the time; it's nearly 11 o'clock. In a few minutes he'll be on stage singing to a small crowd of squealing girls, waving their arms back and forth to the beat of the music, swaying with their hearts on their sleeves. He feels something in his soul that is pulling at his brain and tickling at his nerves and it's making him uneasy, like something still has been left unsaid. He hears the fans on the other side of the curtain start screaming in pending excitement for him and so he takes his phone, sits down in a corner, and calls her.

"Hello?" He's glad to hear her voice, so innocent and pure. But the crowd is getting louder and he has to be quick with his words.

"Look," he begins defiantly, "I was thinking about what you said yesterday and I don't think it's that everything is disappointing you- I think it's that you're disappointing yourself. I know you try to be strong and you put up this wall of a smile but you can't be perfect and you aren't going to be. We live imperfect lives, we _all _do, and I would know because every time I'm with you I'm reminded of all the times of let you down and I gotta tell you that I'm not going to anymore. You have a strong family and for better or for worse, things will work out and it will settle down and I don't want you to beat yourself up over it because its things like these in our lives that are just out of our control. And I hate watching you destroy yourself with evil things and you have to respect yourself and believe that bad isn't going to make you feel good- only the good in the world can do that. You're the most incredible girl I know, Miley, and you need to know that I will always be here.. but I really just want the best for you."

He takes a breath and he finally feels satisfied with saying all that he ever needed and wanted to say to her. She doesn't answer right away and all he hears is sniffling and she is crying in the middle of the Haiti airport with her phone clutched to her ear and her hand pressed to her mouth. "Thank you," she says. _Thank you_.

_You're my forever girl.  
No matter what you do.  
You're my forever girl.  
And I believe in you._

It's a good crowd tonight. It's intimate and there's a strong connection between him and his fans; he feels comfortable, honest, and brand new. And he can tell that they're listening to him, that they're really paying attention to the words he sings and the chords he plays and that they're feeling the same love and adoration towards him that he feels towards her.

He adjusts his guitar and looks out into the crowd. He sees over a hundred faces, all bright and blinded by the bright lights shining upon him. He smiles.

"So my next song is one that doesn't require any story beforehand talking about what it's about because it's pretty self-explanatory.. I had the opportunity to record this song with somebody I care a lot about."

The girls break out into "oohs and aahs" and he can't help but let a quirky little smirk appear on his face. They always knew, they always believed in them- even if at some times they didn't.

But put Miley and Nick's history on a timeline and you start to see a pattern. Love, breakup, new relationships, song battle, reunite, reconnect, repeat. They will always be connected by an eternal song laced between their hearts; a beautiful song, a lifetime of memories. It's unbreakable, and they believe this more with each passing day. Miley may have been his first girl but she will be- as far as he's concerned- his last.


End file.
